You are currently viewing the old forums. We have upgraded to a new NFL Forum. This old forum is being left as a read-only archive.
Please update your bookmarks to our new forum at forums.footballsfuture.com.

I'd warn that we all temper our excitement over Blair Walsh, only because the shelf life of kickers can fluctuate like no other position can. With that said, for now, Walsh is more than on pace for a Mason Crosby-like rookie year. For whatever criticism we've taken over cutting Longwell for a rookie, it's certainly paid off to this point in every facet possible - be it short precise kicks, long kicks, kickoffs.

So would you say you're really just calling Blair Walsh a "Project"?

Haven't heard that one before. #IHave _________________

"When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality."
--Joe Paterno.

You know what's going to be fun to watch? Blair Walsh's first trip to Lambeau.

The conditions are very often tricky there, and the atmosphere is definitely one that challenges rookies and younger players. I think he'll be up to the challenge._________________
Peppers90 on the sig.

I'm a big fan of Formula 1 racing and you can always tell who the really good drivers are just by the look in their eyes prior to the start of the race.

Walsh has that same look, even on sidelines, and that's really the one thing that impresses me about him. He may miss FGs here and there, but it won't be due to a lack of focus or mental toughness._________________
The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. — Ecclesiastes 9:11

a good article on how rookie kickers enter the league more prepared now and have early success, negating the traditional thinking that a veteran kicker might be safer to have on your roster:

When the Vikings decided they needed a young kicker pronto, special teams coordinator Mike Priefer asked the team's personnel department to assemble a spreadsheet on all the rookies who were their team's primary kicker from 2007 to 2011. The numbers confirmed Priefer's gut instinct. NFL coaches no longer needed to fear the rookie kicker.

The seven kickers on that spreadsheet were a combined 161-for-188 on field-goal attempts their rookie season. That's a significantly high percentage (85.6) for seven young legs that can boom kickoffs farther and higher than aging veterans who typically cling to roster spots long after they've lost their kickoff legs.

Priefer: "Nowadays, for whatever reason, it's who the rookie is that matters, not the fact he's a rookie. So many more of them are prepared to handle it. So you look for the right personality, the right work ethic."

Priefer: “I was disappointed for him, disappointed for us [when he missed a kick in Detroit.] And he knows that. He’s a smart guy. He doesn’t have to be told when he does something wrong. We watched it on tape together on Monday morning. He knew what he did wrong.”

Priefer said Walsh got a little too close to the ball on the miss: “Probably lunged into it a little bit and then wrapped his foot around it. He’ll do that every now and then in practice. So we’ll work in here on that.”